Non-Resident American Buying Apartment - Need Some Advice

[John Doe]

San Francisco (EEUU) suffered a big earthquake in 1989. I worked with a guy who lived in an apartment complex in San Bruno, a nearby S.F. suburb. The apartment had so much water damage, that he and his wife had to move out, until repairs were made. The complex was owned by people who lived in New Joy-Z. Either the owners weren't able to get to or just weren't in a hurrry to get to Calif.
I read an article in the S.F. Chronicle newspaper, at that time, where the writer suggested that it wouldn't be a good idea to own rental property that would be located more than an hour away from where the owner lived. Whenever I read about how great it would be to own investment real estate in far away places. I always think about S.F. - 1989.
My best friend in Barcelona owned apartments in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain.She had many problems. She was lucky, because he son is an Iberia Airlines pilot and she was easily able to go to the scene of the crimes .
Who will represent you for any and all problems that may occur? Regardless of who this person is,will they have your best interests at heart? Will they get several estimates for repairs that you will have to pay for or will they have their brother in law do the work? This is one of many questions that can apply.

 

[Jaredberryman]

Be careful about bringing money in here via cuevas. It may be problematic later if you ever try to sell the property as you will have to show where that money came from. If you did a transfer with the cueva, it could bring problems. You should try to bring it in legitimately if possible. Opening a bank account here is difficult if you are not a legal resident, but there must be a way to get it done and get the money here for the purchase.

 

[Ceviche]

How does one do it a proper legal way for this situation?

If one has a property in another country. He/she sells it off there legally and gets a well documented sale price in his/her account back there.

How to transfer that money 100% legally here ( from usd to usd) for purchase of a flat here?

How does one do the exact paperwork in the country of sale and then present it legally to the bank here and the AFIP in order to transfer it?

Conditions :-

1. Money never changes to peso
2. Money remains 100% legal here

Thanks.